


Justice League/ Reader: What doesn't kill you will maybe succeed the second time around

by Magpies_and_candywrappers



Category: Justice League (2017)
Genre: Barry doesn't realize also, Basically, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Magic User!Reader, Multi, Not telling you where though, Reader has mystical tats, You are dating the whole justice league, You don't realize till later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-09 16:58:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12892524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpies_and_candywrappers/pseuds/Magpies_and_candywrappers
Summary: You thought you had escaped your past and was looking to the future. With the age of heroes slapping you in the face, you soon find out you don't have to fight your past by yourself. After "she" arrives and tries to kill you, the Justice League, still in its infancy, try to figure out what she wants and why she wants you dead, as well as coming to care about you in more than one way.





	1. Chapter 1

The nightmare always started the same for you. You were ten years old again and you heard the scream that started it all. In your head, you knew you should ignore the scream and try to wake up, but this was a nightmare. You couldn’t help it and along with some of your classmates that had woken up heard it as well. Your friend, Alicia, took ahold of your hand and together, you walked towards Mother’s office. The door was slightly open and you heard a dull thud.  
You and Alicia and your classmates were confused. Mother never ever left the door to her office ajar, and all of you hesitated. Something was wrong. You pushed open the door. You screamed!  
“Y/n! Wake up, it’s not real honey,” said the gentle voice of your sorority sister, Lena. You flinched back from her hand on your shoulder as you sat up and sucked in frantic breaths. She sat down on the bed next to you and some of your other sisters’ peeked their heads in. They knew something had happened to you in your past but none of them had seen you have a nightmare like this. “ Crap, I’m so sorry for waking ya’ll up,” you said apologetically but they were quick to assure you it was alright. Lena stayed with you. “ Do you want to talk about it,” Lena asked softly. You took a deep breath. “ I don’t want to dump all of my problems on you,” You admitted. “ Thanks, Lena. Go back to sleep.” you encouraged and she shrugged her shoulders. “ It’s already 6:30, Y/n,” Lena said. You groaned and fell back against your pillows, frustrated.  
********

You were slightly distracted at work but luckily no one seemed to notice. You worked in the Financial aid office of Gotham University. You knew everything there was to know about transcripts, degree plans, and paperwork that was, grossly enough, damaged by those little paper eating bugs, silverfish. Yuck. You thought about your nightmare. The House was probably still there, you and your former classmates’ little beds, the books. . Shuddering, you clocked out once your shift was over and you decided to call your grandpa and tell him about the nightmare. You walked absentmindedly towards your favorite cafe as Grandpa's phone rang. “ Y/n! How have you been? How’s school?” You felt some tension leave you when you heard his voice. “ Great pops, I just.. I just wanted to tell you something. Sweetie, what’s wrong?” You felt nervous again, almost sick with anxiety. “ Pops, I had a nightmare about the House. About Mother and...her,” You’re voice nearly died to nothing just saying the pronoun. He was silent. “ Pops?” you asked worried at the silence. “ Y/n, you are safe alright? Don’t worry. Christmas break is almost here and you’ll be home soon enough,” he said and you felt warm again. “ Bye pops, love you. Love you too, dear.” You put your phone back in your pocket and ordered a hot tea. As you waited, you glanced over to the tv mounted on the wall, and saw that it was turned to a news channel. There was a woman and her husband saying that people should be afraid of the heroes that had stopped that apocalyptic crap that had gone down in Russia. You felt a strange twang in your heart. ‘ And would we even still be here, if they hadn’t stopped it,’ You thought annoyed. “ Here you are..you okay?” Asked the cashier as she handed you your tea and some napkins. “ What do you mean,” But you felt the blood trickling out your nose a second later. “ Oh, I’m okay, it’s just the weather, ya’ know,” You explained and the girl gave a weak smile. “ Happens to me too,” You glanced back at the tv to see a little girl excitedly talking about the hero that had saved her and her family, the one they called the Flash. You suppressed a smile at the little girl’s excited face and began your walk back to the sorority house. You weren’t scared of anyone that could’ve tried to mug you or worse. If anyone tried anything, they’d get a faceful of (non lethal) magic. You weren’t incredibly powerful but you were capable of protecting yourself if need be. You made it home alright but you couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, and nervous you reached up and your fingers worried at the necklace. It was a round cut chocolate diamond that Grandpa had given you, and you almost never took it off at his behest. He had said it masked your magical trace from other magic users, which gave you a lot of comfort.  
You looked around at the street and other buildings before going inside. you hadn’t seen anything, but it didn’t put your concern to rest.  
********* Bruce stared at the crime scene photos on the large monitor before him. Alfred gave it a quick glance before setting the tray of coffee down. “ Quite gruesome, Master Wayne,” he commented. Bruce gave a frustrated growl as he looked at the photos of little kids that had actually witnessed the murder. Little boys and girls who could never forget what they had seen. “ I’m still not sure what she wants,” he said as he looked at the next photo, the one who had committed the murders. There was nothing remarkable about the woman but there was almost something shifty about the look in her eyes. “ Is that the woman?’ Came Diana’s gentle accented voice. “ Yes. These are the kids that witnessed everything,” Bruce let Diana see the children. Her expression was pained a little, as it always was when children were involved, and she though back to the ones that had been caught in the terrorist attack she had stopped. “ Alicia Masters, Kayleigh Eades, Denushka May, Y/n L/n,” She read off the names, looked at them again. The girls were adorable with their neat uniforms and gap toothed smiles. “ You don't’ think she will go after them do you,” Diana asked worriedly and Bruce’s expression was grim. “ That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. These kids… her. The boarding school was a front for what it actually was. They were learning, but they were learning to harness their magic.”


	2. Chapter 2

When you came home to your sorority, you heard music blasting from upstairs. Confused you set your bag down and jogged up the stairs and the music became clear. “Whoop, there it is!” assaulted your ears as you went into Wendy and Nona’s bedroom, where they and the other girls were engaged in some sort of twerking contest. Lena was trying so hard not to laugh, her face red and mouth covered by her hand but when you two locked eyes you both dissolved into a fit of giggles. It wasn’t like you or any of the girls were saints but you hadn’t expected to come home to this! “ who’s-who’s idea was this?” you gasped between barks of laughter, your stomach aching from laughing! “ I may have had five shots of vodka,” Wendy confessed and you rolled your eyes. You didn’t notice someone slip your tea out of your hands until you heard a loud slurp. “ Hey!” You yelped and turned to see Lisa holding your tea. She looked you in the eyes and took another sip. ‘ I guess that’s what I get for liking the same tea as Lisa,’ you thought and snatched it back. “ Anyway, I’ve got studying to do,” You said and went to your room ( well you and Lena’s room) and set up your desk to get to work.You logged onto your BlackBoard, checked all your notifications, checked your grades, fist pumped the air as you saw you got a 98 on an essay you had been worried about. The professor’s comment box read “ Interesting connections you’ve drawn, Miss L/n, can’t wait to see more of your work,” “ Hell yeah you like my work,” You said aloud to yourself. The girls had turned the music down thankfully so you studied in relative peace for an hour and a half until you got tired. You’d had a long day and called it a night.  
**********

The next day was pretty uneventful and you’d gotten little sleep as you woke up around 3 am with one hell of a sore throat. Your voice came out scratchy and annoyingly goose like, and one of your classmates gave you a funny look after you’d helped him in the financial aid office, at the sound of your ruined voice. You thought nothing of it. Everyone got sick this time of year. After work you’d taken a detour to pick up a book you would need for next semester, at a book rental store. Of course, you cringed at the price, but who wouldn’t. You stuffed the book into your book bag as it began to rain, the fat cold drops. You stopped dead in your tracks. ‘Cough drops,’ you cursed yourself when you realized that was the one thing you needed. You could barely speak, your throat was so irritated. Huffing, you stomped towards the nearest convenience store and bought a pack of honey and lemon cough drops, the closest thing to the remedy Grandpa used to give you as a kid. You cut around the back of the convenience store and through a couple alleys, the buildings providing cover from some of the stinging rain. “Hello, Y/n,” purred the all too familiar voice. Your heart was flooded with adrenaline so fast it hurt and you took a stutter step, not quite processing what was happening. ‘ Run you idiot!’ you screamed in your head but it all felt like a dream. You slowly turned, breath caught in your throat as you looked at her, Mileva.   
The woman who killed Mother. It felt like an eternity but in reality, it was a couple seconds! You turned and tried to scream the spell that would open a portal and take you to safety, far from her. “ Libero Silligum!” As you yelled it, it felt like your vocal chords had given up on you, the pain too much. You tried to jump into the open portal of soothing Indigo light but it snapped shut with a sizzle, and whatever magic Mileva used was nothing you knew. You tried to yell but no sound came out as you flew back and Mileva raised her hand, your back colliding with the brick of an apartment complex!  
You couldn’t move, you couldn’t speak and you hadn’t even begun to practice non-verbal magic. Tears fell freely down your face as you guessed what your fate would be. Mileva watched you a moment before she reached up, causing you to flinch. “ Mother knew what she was doing when she crafted this charm,” She murmured thoughtfully, holding the diamond of your necklace between her thumb and forefinger. Just the mere contact burned her flesh and she let it go, the charm falling against the hollow of your neck. “ I wish I had time to explain, my little one. I really wish I did. Please,” she implored and kissed your forehead, causing you to sob harder. It made you think of when she had cared about you when she hadn’t been this monster you didn’t recognize. “ Forgive me,” With that, Mileva withdrew a wicked knife, the handle inlaid with Mother of Pearl and stabbed right at your heart!  
There was the buzz of electricity in the air and a breeze ruffled your hair. Your eyes flew open and Mileva was so surprised her hold on you was broken. She stared at her empty hand for a moment, then at you. Your voice came back a bit so you did the only thing you could think of. You fled. The ground beneath you turned into a portal and you caught a glimpse of the Flash’s bewildered expression, just as you sank into it.  
Much to your chagrin, you fell into your room, yes, but you missed your bed completely and slammed into the floor, where you lay for a few moments, mind reeling until you blacked out. It might have been comical to the outside observer, but alas, it hurt like a bitch.  
*******  
Barry stared at the knife he held in his hand. He was about 90 percent sure he had narrowly stopped a human sacrifice until the sacrifice-er lobbed a ball of fire at him, which he dodged with relative ease. Bruce-no Batman descended from wherever he descended from and snarled a question at her. “ What do you want with her? Why are you trying to kill her?” The woman smirked and shook her head. “ Are you sure you wish to know demon?” Barry tried to catch the woman but he went through her and she burst into a million tiny moths that disappeared instantly. Batman was frustrated but at least he had the knife, some clue about Mileva and the girl herself. At least he’d gotten a tracking device on her before she disappeared. Y/n used magic too but she was powerless in Mileva’s hands. That worried him greatly. He turned to Flash. “ HQ, now,” he ordered. He took off in a burst of blue lightning, fluttering any nearby objects.  
“ This knife is Atlantean!” Arthur growled. “ We’re lucky as hell our mystery girl didn’t get stabbed,” he said, turning it in his hands. “ Why is that?” Victor asked, his sensors scanning the weapon. “ Because even if the blow hadn’t been lethal by human standards, she’d still be dead as shit. This is enchanted.” Behind them there was footage of Y/n taken from her Instagram, laughing to high heaven as her two friends accidentally bashed heads behind her. Victor guessed Y/n was just trying to live her life. Hell, he knew what that felt like. “ I put a tracker on her. She goes to Gotham University, works in one of the offices. She’s in the sorority Phi Delta Theta. She’s there now,” Diana spoke up. “ I’ll go talk to her. Woman to woman.” Diana hadn’t meant it to sound like that, but the men backed up a little, and Arthur snickered.   
*********  
None of your sisters had found you unconscious in your room. They were either at a party or at night classes, so when the doorbell rang you had to peel yourself off the floor and struggle downstairs. You hesitated but your senses told you it was not Mileva. You squeaked in pain as you moved your arm to open the front door. You had definitely screwed something up when you hit the floor. “ Hello,” you rasped, your throat still messed up. “ Y/n? My name is Diana Prince, and I think you may need my help,” You were struck not only by Diana’s beauty but her commanding presence as well, which, now that she was right in front of you, was overwhelming to the point of you almost crying. You took a deep breath, tried to keep calm and let her in. Diana’s brows furrowed when she saw you kept your movement limited. “ You’re hurt,” She said and came over to you. You felt like she knew about you, but you weren’t quite scared, so much as you were just nervous. “May I?” She asked, gesturing at your jacket. You nodded and she helped you ease it off, her eyes taking in part of the bruise your tank top didn’t conceal. “ Why did she try to kill you, Y/n” You froze and you were so scared you considered fleeing. She carefully took hold of your wrist. “ I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to know why Mileva wants you dead,” Diana explained, brown eyes so filled with genuine concern, you couldn’t help but trust her.  
You raked a hand through your hair. “ It’s a long story. I don’t even know why she killed...Killed the woman you and the girls called Mother?” You nodded. “ Mother wasn’t bad all of the time but-” You cut yourself off. You had said too much. The front door flew open to reveal your rowdy sisters who froze at the sight of you with a beautiful woman alone on the couch. “ We’re interrupting aren’t we, Lisa ?” Wendy said, slightly suggestively and dragged the gawking Lisa upstairs. Lisa poked her head around the wall at the top of the stairs and mouthed ‘Get some’ at you, causing you to blush madly. “ Do you mind coming with me, then?” she asked. You grabbed your jacket and followed her to her car, which looked crazy expensive. You weren’t sure what the future held for you anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if some things are a little unclear. Also, I'm trying to make Mileva formidable but not too powerful. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Just as you reached for the car door, you were tackled to the ground and not by Diana. “ Y/n!” whatever it was, Diana ripped it off you and you got a good a look at it. “ Umbrates!” You yelled and flung spells at other ones that began to crawl down the sides of buildings. “ They hate the light!” You said though you weren’t sure what Diana could do. It was night already and the low artificial lights around your sorority would do little to nothing to the Umbrates. As two leaped at you, you easily dispatched them and they were really no match for Diana. Really, Umbrates, beings of shadow, could be a nuisance unless you either knew how to deal with them or had strength and strategy. “ Solis!” You shouted and the burst of light that washed over everything for several city blocks. There were horrific screeches as they were incinerated. Diana looked around and deemed that it was safe, but the spell had taken what was left out of you and you fell back, into something solid at that, and it wasn’t the ground. More blood began to pour from your nose as you stared up at the Bat of Gotham  
******************  
As you put some spell books into a backpack, you tried to wrap your head around what was happening. The books you were taking had some information that would help everyone else understand what was going on, which by the way, you yourself could barely understand what Mileva wanted. Yeah, you dead, but what would that accomplish for her?You knew that Grandpa was probably going to have to be involved and that...that maybe you would have to go back to the House, the thought of which made you want to throw up and cry at the same time. Your thoughts drifted back to your classmates once you safely in the car with Diana. And Batman...had you not been exhausted you might’ve freaked out. Yeah, he helped save the world, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t be intimidated, right? Then there were the Umbrates…  
Diana drove, a little too fast for your comfort, and made small talk with you, asked you about your sorority sisters. All too soon, you were at their base and the feeling of anxiety welled up inside you. You were going to be fine. Wait...did that mean you were going to know who they were? Did they not care? You wouldn’t have said anything anyhow but still. You already kind of knew Diana was Wonder Woman if her ability to take out Umbrates without breaking a sweat was anything to go by.  
You took a deep breath. You knew that eventually, you would have to ask Grandpa uncomfortable questions and that with your life in danger, he’d have no choice but to answer. Some of the books in your bag would help…  
“Those creatures are called umbrates,” You said and ignored the feeling of everyone’s eyes on you. “ Beings of shadow.” “ So, magic girl, you got any idea how Mileva got her hands on an Atlantean blade?” Arthur asked. His height and build was not only pleasing but slightly intimidating. You flipped through one of your books, thinking. “ For all I know, Mother had procured it first. She never got her hands dirty because she had people to do it for her. Mileva. She was probably the first to know where Mother’s assets would go if she died. I guess she didn’t think Mileva would be the one to end it,” You said. “ As for where she got it...well that’s anyone’s guess,” You said. Arthur leaned his back against the table and crossed his arms, seemingly satisfied. You didn’t know that much about Atlantis because that would have been covered when you entered the sixth grade equivalent of teaching at The House. Bruce-you were still trying to wrap your head around the fact he was the Batman, and he donated a lot to Gotham University so was this a conflict of interest- suddenly came forward and placed a picture down in front of you. “ Do you know what this is? Mileva left it at one of her former homes.” You pulled the laminated printout of some sort of sigil closer, your brows knitting together. “ Hold on,” You muttered and pulled another book from your bag and frustrated that you couldn’t find the page, whispered a tiny little spell. It flipped down to the page and you compared the two pictures. It was a circle that had hexagon within it, and a square within the hexagon. More circles formed a ring around its entirety. You almost didn’t notice that everyone had gathered around you, the warmth of their bodies comforting you.  
You shot upright and began to pace, chewing on one of your knuckles. “ What does it mean?” Bruce asked and you stopped heart beating. “ It means she’s nowhere near as strong as she’s lead us to believe.” You said, staring him dead in the eyes.  
*********************  
Bruce had located the house with relative ease. Unless Mileva had cause to be more careful, she certainly hadn’t done anything to conceal she had owned the home he was currently looking through. It was empty. No one had wanted to buy the house and according to the records he’d dredged up, Mileva had lived here around the time she had killed “Mother”. He supposed people had not wanted the house because they’d found out about the sigil. Sure, it had been covered up and plastered over by now, but the evidence was there. People did not want to buy a house that had been owned by a Satanist, or at least that was what the neighbors had to say about her.   
There was probably nothing left of Mileva and the house was left to rot, as had happened to many other neighborhoods. After all, realty wasn’t doing so good these days. He ran his gloved fingers over the part of the wall where it had been carved. In Gotham, he had seen loose cults and copycats make all sorts of symbols, altars, but there was something about the one in the photograph. So carefully made and practically seared into the wall. It was surprising that a little plaster had erased it. However, nothing was that simple. Was what she doing?


	4. Chapter 4

You were dead tired but Alfred-you tended to catch his dry quips- supplied everyone with copious amounts of caffeine. Well, except for Barry and Victor. “So like, it’s okay if Y/n knows who we are? Mileva isn’t going to use magic to take the info from her head?” You knew Barry wasn’t trying to be mean or anything, and if anything, he made you feel almost normal. He was practically an energizer bunny and you guessed caffeine wouldn’t be a good idea.  
You stared long and hard at the picture of the sigil and finally looked up when Victor asked if your back was okay. Your fall when the Umbrates attacked you and Diana certainly hadn’t helped. “ Yeah, that’s from earlier. It’s fine,”You said and gave him a small smile. He had a hoodie and pants on and he seemed...more at ease. “This explains the Umbrates at least,” You explained. Bruce raised a brow. “ Yeah, they’re annoying and if you don’t keep your head on they could hurt you, but for Mileva to send them? This,” You held up the sigil, Superman scrutinizing it. He’d had to deal with an apartment fire due to a meth lab explosion but apparently, everything was okay now-the cooks not having been there at the time- and no deaths, at least so he was here now, “ Is a Vector. You make one, and not without dipping into things you shouldn’t, and use it as a battery, for example. That’s why I was at a school for this. Learning magic is like working out. It hurts at first, you’re not that strong but you build up to it. This is your steroid right here,” You finished placing it back down. “ But you need something to activate the Vector, something already infused with strong magic. You don’t put cheap gas in a sports car, do you?” You’d only been making a point but you could’ve sworn Bruce’s lips quirked like he was trying not to laugh. “The knife,” Victor whispered and it clicked. Arthur brought it forward. “ We still don’t know why she tried to kill you with it,” Diana said. You stared at it. It was a beautiful piece of weaponry no doubt, the whole blade seeming to have a pearlescent sheen to it.  
You shivered as it had nearly been plunged into your heart and tore your eyes away from it. Arthur seemed to know what you were thinking and scooped it back up. “ Remind me to tell Mileva what happens if you steal something like this,” he said to no one in particular and swaggered back to his spot by a table. “ I’d just like to mention, I went through Mileva,” Barry spoke up. “ Is-is that going to be a problem? Because I’d rather not do it again, and it was the grossest thing I’ve ever done,” He paused. “ Well not the grossest-Barry,” Bruce said. “ Right, right.” Your shoulders slumped. “ She was probably siphoning magic from it. This would have killed you instantly,” Arthur stated and you felt your stomach drop. Why would she need to kill in one fell swoop? “ We’ll get more answers from my grandpa. He isn’t my biological grandpa-It doesn’t matter. He took me in after the incident.” You had told them about Grandpa and how he probably knew more. Diana put her hand on Bruce’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear. They both gave each other a stern look but he seemed to relent about whatever it was.  
“ We all need some rest. Y/n, we’d all prefer it if you stayed here.” You almost protested but stopped yourself. So that’s how you ended up in one of the League’s guest rooms. You tried to sleep you honestly did but well, your sorority sisters’ could vouch you didn’t always rest easy. And sleeping on your stomach because your back was tender didn’t help. You grabbed one of your spell books and busied yourself with its contents. There were some parts you skipped but you read them now. It had a drawing of a statue of a woman with some sort of round headpiece and a half moon that went on her forehead. You read over the pages, your hand going to your necklace out of habit. Tomorrow you would see Grandpa. Maybe things would be okay.  
That thought helped put you get to sleep, at least for a little while, and after some reading, you’d actually picked up some tips and tricks.  
*********************************  
When you came out of the room in an outfit that most definitely wasn’t the one you’d been wearing yesterday, a new shirt, different hoodie, and jeans, Barry stopped, pointed at your shirt, lips forming a question that never left his mouth and then tilted his head. “ You, did you use magic? To change your clothes?” he finally choked out. “ I’m pretty sure none of us leaned you clothes and Diana wears designer,” You shrugged. “It’s a useful thing,” He contemplated it some more. “ So like, do you not use a closet? Or do you see something in a store and,” He gesticulated wildly, and you cracked a smile. “ These are my clothes. I just picture what I own and...poof,” You said. It was kind of lame but hey, that’s the gist of it. “ Hey, thanks for grabbing the knife from Millie- Mileva!” You both stared ahead and ignored the infraction. “ You saved my life,” You whispered, cursing yourself on the inside for letting the nickname slip. Even after all she had done. “ Oh well, you know,” he said sheepishly. You felt some anxiousness. You were going to have to confront Grandpa. You walked to the main hall with Barry. Just as you went to say good morning at least to Arthur and Bruce who were there, you felt a sharp pain in your stomach. You gasped and doubled over! “Y/n!” Everyone seemed to say in unison! Your eyes clouded over gray and you fell, becoming dead weight, but Arthur eased you out of Barry’s arms and cradled you carefully. Red blossomed across your stomach but when your shirt was lifted there was no wound. You weren’t in your body. You heard Grandpa yelling and his voice reached you! “Y/n! I’m going to hold her off, but you need to know the truth! The answers you need are under the rug in my bedroom, in the carved chest. I’m so sorry honey, I shouldn’t have-INCENDIUM!” Your eyes became clear again and you gasped as you came back into your body. “Jesus, Y/n, you’re heart stopped,” Victor said. “ Grandpa,” You rasped, “ She got to him, or she’s still there,” You were panicking now!  
Everyone suited up and you didn’t even hesitate to jump into the aircraft that Bruce was piloting. “ I heard his voice. There’s a secret room,” You shook your head and rubbed your eyes.  
You couldn’t get there fast enough, and when Vic gave you his hand to squeeze, you felt better at the gesture. “ It’s going to be okay. She won’t get away with this,” You nodded.  
You felt the rage spark so quickly you almost scared yourself when you saw the state of his house. There were trees burned to stumps, black sludge spattered all over the ground and the living room and kitchen were a mess, burned and busted. He had put up a hell of a fight. You whispered a spell, and your hands were alight with blue fire. “Umbrates. In the house still,” Superman said. Almost at the scent of you, the Umbrates burst forth and ran for you but you incinerated them save for one. “NECTERE!” You shouted and it was bound in chains of light that didn’t kill it but had it howling in pain. You turned to them. “I don’t hear anything, Y/n, I’m sorry but your Grandfather isn’t in there,” Superman said. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You would have to see if you could get any information from the Umbrate. “This is going to get ugly,” You said, and Diana drew her sword with a nod.  
*************************************  
Blood was freely streaming from your nose as you snarled at the Umbrate. “ Dicere,” You said lowly and it writhed and growled within the chains. “Dicere. DICERE,” You screamed and it lunged and you, the heroes preparing to kill it but you screeched another word in Latin and so began the disturbing exchange. Diana could understand you, and Victor had a translator. To the others, your voice sounded as demonic as the Umbrate’s. “Where did the woman take my Grandfather? Give yourself to her girl, and he will live.That is not what I asked. I’ve rightfully bound you, creature. You answer to me now,” Your teeth were bared in snarl and hell, you made a noise that sounded like the Grudge. The Umbrate gave a scream and with its clawed hands, tore its own throat out! “NO, dammit,” You cried. You collapsed to your knees exhausted. You felt a hand on your shoulder and looked up at Arthur. “C’mon magic girl. We’ve gotta look in that secret room,” He said and you nodded, got to your feet and entered the house. You tried not to look at the wreck of a house, instead making a beeline for his room. The carpet was a charred hunk and the floor was blackened, but it seemed the door hadn’t budged for Mileva. You barely touched the trap door before it popped open. You glanced over your shoulder at the League and then descended down the steps. The room was the size of a small classroom, clean and bare. You summoned a tiny ball of light that flew to the center of the room and lit your way. You stared down at the chest, carved with flowers and trees. There was no lock but instead a piece of smooth metal with a hollowed out area. You touched it carefully. You felt something tug on your neck. Your necklace was floating off your neck and going in the direction of the hollow, so you took it off and it practically flew into it. It clicked open quietly. You opened it.  
********************  
Inside were two books that appeared to be journals and a large manila folder. You felt sick when you saw your name and a date written on the bottom of the folder. You had been thirteen at the time according to the date. With trembling hands you opened the folder and pulled out a smooth dark blue sheet with whitish markings. “An x-ray?” You look closer and realized it was an X-ray of your ribs. “Oh my God,” you whispered. You stumbled back into the hard chest of Superman. “Y/N? What is it?” You showed him the X-ray, the symbols and runes carved onto your ribs and sternum. You felt numb. You knew the symbols. “ I- I went to the doctor, they wanted to make sure I didn’t have fluid in my lungs,” You stammered, remembering the time. The x-ray was shaking in your hands. “ I don’t-who did this to me, why?” But you knew why. You were the ultimate power source for a Vector.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing my best, you guys. Please enjoy.

The x-rays lay on the table back in their folder, but the fact that they existed at all, that someone had done this to you...You felt naked as if everyone in the room could see the runes now. It was the proverbial elephant in the room. Someone had carved these things into you without your knowledge and consent and Mileva had your only family in her clutches. You jumped as a hand touched your shoulder. It was only Clark. “Sorry, I-It’s okay. You’ve been through a lot,” He said gently and somehow that made everything hurt more. You’d have to tell them about Mileva, Mother, and the House sooner rather than later and you did not look forward to it.   
Your spell books and some of the ones you had brought from Grandpa’s were spread out on the table and you worked up the courage to tell them everything. “ Do you know who did that to you,” he asked and suddenly everyone was staring at you. “No, I don’t remember anything. But...I know why she wants to kill me. If she can kill me in one hit, then it’ll fuse my soul to the runes. Who knows how strong she’ll get if she does it,” Clark looked disturbed at the very least and the others weren’t sure how to process what you said. Sure, they had faced aliens, gods, and crazed villains but magic was something they weren’t exactly familiar with. Until Arthur spoke up. “Well, Y/n isn’t wrong. In Atlantis, there are records of a magic that sounds like that,” He picked up one of the spell books. “If she has access to Altantian weaponry, who knows what else she can get her hands on. Her main focus is you,” Bruce said.

You took a shaky breath and stood. If you sat still any longer you felt like you might scream. “ There is a chance she might go back to the House,” You chewed the inside of your lip. “It was called Dante Hall, the school. It’s in Maine.” You thought of Mother. For the longest time, you had been so confused and angry about what had transpired at Dante Hall, never even saying the name of the place. “You have to understand...they were the only real family I had at the time. And Mother,” Your brow creased and you frowned. “She was fanatical. She would rave about we were the future and that we mustn’t fail her. She even said she had big plans for all of us,” You shuddered as you recalled that memory, the real meaning becoming more clear to you. “It wasn’t right. You were a kid,” Your head snapped up at Barry’s voice which had an edge to it, an edge that was too real, too personal. The others’ eyes flickered from him to you.  
“You don’t have to tell us if you aren’t ready,” Victor said and you wanted to say something anything, fling your arms around his neck, because while yes, it hurt, hurt more than anything to relive the moment, you knew if you had too...it would be with them.

“ It was the highest honor of the time to have a child trained at Dante Hall, to be taught by Mother. Even if it meant turning a blind eye,” There were the memories in your mind fresh as it had happened yesterday. “ Even if it meant I’d never see my family again.” The second you’d been given to the school, your life had been signed away, all of your choices made for you.  
When you looked back at them, you said “It wasn’t bad..not all of the time. But we were scared of her. Mileva cared for us as if we were her own. None of knew how bad it really was. “They had argued that night in front of us no less. Their relationship was deteriorating in a way we couldn’t have comprehended.” You turned and waved your hand and small figures of a strange smoky light came about, a soft ethereal blue. The little figures crowded around the outline of a door, pushed it further open. There were the two figures in the room, one of which was seated at a desk. The standing one came around the sitting one and wrenched her arm upwards. As the head of the seated figure fell to the floor, the whole apparition heaved and dissolved into nothing. “ I woke up hours later, my sisters gone. Grandpa had taken me in.”   
“He’s all I have left now. I’m done running.”  
*********************************************  
“There’s been a family emergency. Yeah...I’ll be okay, Lena. Ok, thanks.” That call had been one of the most painful ones yet. You had put a plethora of spells over the sorority house in the dead of night, Batman’s eyes boring into you as you whispered the words, runes glowing softly on the stone of the stairs and walls before fading into nothing. Grandpa was still alive, you knew he was. You would have felt his death but then Mileva wouldn’t have any leverage over you. If there was one place you should go in order to find any leads on Mileva and Grandpa, there was one sorcerer who would have leads, it was Grubgy. ‘He’s a total creep but he knows what he’s doing. If anyone will have information it’s him,” You said. “He’s a creep?” Victor asked and you shook your head. “Trust me, you’ll see.” 

 

Your high heeled black boots clicked on the pavement as you walked towards Grubgy’s, Arthur by your side. He pretty much dwarfed you even when wearing heeled shoes but he was kind of a big teddy bear...when he wasn’t kicking ass. The storefront appeared to be one of the stores that sold herbs, crystals and tarot cards. It was all a lie pretty much. You shoved the front door open, and you snapped your fingers, silencing the bell at once. “You sure about this, Y/n?” Arthur asked as he looked around. The place was kind of dirty and smelled oh so faintly of the devil’s lettuce.”I’m sure.” You said dead serious. Behind the counter was a curtain and when Grubgy finally appeared, he jumped out of his skin when he saw you standing there with your arms crossed and a very tall, very muscular Atlantean next you. “Y/n? W-what are you doing here?” he asked flustered. “ I came to you some questions and I think you can help me.” His eyes flickered between you and Arthur before holding open the curtain to the back. “Okay..come in then.” He muttered. Grubgy’s eyes raked over your body, finally landing on your chest. “So, how’s your tattoo healing. Can I have a look?” First of all, the tattoo was about three years old and second of all, Arthur looked ready to commit murder at the other man’s suggestive tone.  
“You wanna know how hard a bull shark can bite? Some of them can swallow you whole,” he snarled and Grubgy shrank back with a squeak. “Hey, C'mon man I didn’t mean it like that. Just shut the hell up. The lady’s got some questions for you and I suggest you answer them,” Arthur growled. He was quite the gentleman. 

“Someone attacked my Grandpa and kidnapped him. And nothing major happens around here without you getting wind of it. So what do you know?” Grubgy looked around nervously.   
“Listen, Y/n this is a dangerous time. And if I tell you something it might put you in danger. That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” There was a beat of silence before he finally said something of interest. “She said she was looking for the Marked One. I didn’t know what it meant! She said she needed a Lithone to find what she was looking for.” You knew what a Lithone was. It was a special object to help you find large magical deposits...people. “Those are outlawed!” You yelled and he began to look panicked. “I had to give it to her, Y/n! You don’t understand.” You froze as you felt a presence behind you. “He’s right, you know. You don’t understand,” You and Arthur whipped around only to be met with heat and light that threw you back.


	6. Chapter 6

It had happened so fast that Diana wasn’t quite sure what had happened. She saw you and Arthur enter the shop from her vantage point at which she prepared to jump into action if need be. A few minutes had passed when she felt something was wrong and she could feel the charge in the air before the bottom half of the building gave out and exploded in a shockwave.  
You barely had time to register what was happening as the explosion threw you and Arthur back and you screamed out a spell. Mileva flew at you in a single leap with a blade clutched in both hands and brought it down with savage force! The blade sank halfway into the forcefield and it became spiderwebbed like breaking glass and from the breach erupted black and purple sparks, the stench coming from it a horrific mix of sulfur and boiling blood. “ Ut non interficeretur a chao,” you roared and with all your strength, pulled back the energy like a rubber band and sent it snapping back in her face and she fell away from you with a screech. It had only been thirty seconds or more but it had felt like an eternity. Arthur got to his feet beside you and threw off his long trench coat revealing intricate Atlantean armor. Mileva sauntered back from the wreckage watching you like a predator and suddenly more and more people began to come out of nowhere but you knew who they were. Warlocks and magicians who found a leader in Mileva, someone they could hide behind. There was the crackle of electricity and Barry was handing Arthur his trident. “I think this belongs to you,” he tried to joke but he looked thoroughly freaked out at the scene unfolding. “ You do really think I want to do this Y/n? If there were another way I would have found it,” she called to you and your face twisted up with hatred. “If lying to yourself makes you feel better, then be my guest and keep at it,” you snarled.   
Mileva simply looked at you with what could have been sorrow before lifting her hands. Several of her lackeys began to gasp and fell to the ground, their clothes ripping and their bodies morphing and growing larger. “Um...Y/n what is she doing?” Barry asked and you shook your head. “Get ready. Terracines. Worse than Umbrates,” Just as the first one fully transformed into a Terracine, Diana lept from her perch with a roar and landed on it, plunging her sword into its head and Cyborg flew from his own place and began to blast them. Well, you weren’t wrong about Terracines being worse than Umbrates. Mileva and several of her flunkies moved to attack you. ‘Why does she need help?’ you thought but didn’t dwell on that and instead focused on keeping them at bay. “Lupus De Ignis!” You commanded and all at once, wolves made of bright purple fire burst into existence and attacked the magicians. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Batman swoop down into the melee, thoroughly startling several warlocks who seemed to have no real clue what they were seeing. Barry was just straight up confusing the others which would have been funny had you not been fighting for your life.  
Behind you, Diana, Clark, and Arthur were battling the Terracines, whose flesh seemed have been made from stone. Whenever one of them took damage it just absorbed whatever it could, the pavement from the roads, concrete from the sidewalk and nearest buildings. It wasn’t until Clark hit it square in the chest with his heat vision that it seemed to finally die. “Aim for the chest,” he shouted. The heat the fire wolves produced was searing but you felt none of it as it forced the magicians back so that you could face Mileva one on one. You could see that she had become gaunt and her eyes held a desperation in them that was disturbing, to say the least. The waves of energy that she was throwing at you were hazy red and you didn’t dare let it touch you.  
One of your fire wolves howled its death and before you knew it, you’d been hit in the shoulder and you flew back your jacket smoldering! “Y/n,” Cyborg shouted and he landed in between you and Mileva. “Get back,” he warned, preparing his arm gun but Mileva scoffed. You struggled to your feet while clutching your hurt shoulder. “Now,” you shouted and you and Cyborg both hit her with a blast and her scream echoed impossibly loud across the ruined streets and you clapped your hands over your ears. When you looked up finally, Mileva was gone and her lackeys seemed to have fled the crime scene. “Victor?” You asked as you slowly approached him. He seemed to be shaking which you weren’t sure about what. “Y/n,” he rasped, when he turned to you, his human eye wide with fear, “She did something to me,” he said and collapsed! “HELP,” You screamed hoarsely over your shoulder and they were at his side in an instant. “Get him on the ship,” Batman growled and Clark kneeled beside him and lifted him up.   
“My dad,” he whimpered and you guessed what she hit him with. It was a horrible spell that no one deserved to have used on them. “He’s in danger,” he said panicked and while he was lucid enough to keep control of his machinery, his body was still making concerning clicks and whines, like the cyborg portion of his body didn’t quite know what it was doing. “Put him down,” you said and pulled off your jacket and placed it under his head. “Victor, please look at me. Focus on me and my voice okay?” You knelt beside him and held your hands beside his temples but not actually touching them. His eyes did focus on you for a few seconds and a thin pale mist came from your palms and towards his head. You weren’t really sure how him being a cyborg might affect you trying to stop what Mileva did but if the spell cast on him took, then surely you could stop what she did. He reached up and held your bicep. You both yelped as you finally broke the magic and the ship shuddered and the some of the lights burst in a shower of sparks. You involuntarily fell against Victor’s chest which wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t made of metal. He gently grabbed your shoulders and lifted up and off him, the both of you in a heap on the floor. “You alright?” you asked Victor. Clark and Diana helped you and Victor up. “Yeah… I think so,” he said looking down at his arms and then he shook his head in disbelief.  
Having someone get in your head like that...it wasn’t something you got over easily. “She’s getting weaker but that won’t make anything easier. There’s nothing worse than a wounded animal,” you said solemnly. The others shared your grim look.  
Batman spoke up. “I have something better than an umbrate,” he said and you looked past him to see Grugby unconscious and restrained.   
*************************************  
You tried not to think about Mileva might be doing to Grandpa but again, if she had killed him you would have felt it. Your thoughts drifted to Dante Hall. Of course, it wouldn’t be marked on any conventional map and you had a strong feeling that that was where Mileva was hiding out. “How’s the shoulder?” Victor asked as he walked up to you. There was a large bandage over the burn the blast of magic had caused. “It’ll heal. And you?” You asked. Victor sighed. “What she did..it was pretty scary. I called my dad. I know he’s safe but it’s like I can’t shake this feeling.” You hugged yourself and looked up at him. “It gets better you know. Trust me,” you reassured him. He gave the smallest of smiles. “Hey, if things get ugly in there...it’s just we’ll all be there,” He said and you nodded. Batman had placed Grugby in a reinforced cell that could double as an interrogation room. You had scoured your spellbooks and found a binding spell that would render him powerless for a while so that he didn’t have to have tape over his mouth.   
Mileva probably promised him power and riches in exchange for helping her...the coward. All of you surrounded Grugby and Diana put her lasso around him. “The Lasso of Hestia compels you to tell the truth. Why is Mileva trying to use Y/n to power the Vector?” The lass glowed a golden hue and Grugby looked down, panicked as it began to work on him. “She believes that a force like Steppenwolf will come again! If she can power the Vector she be strong enough to stop it. She doesn’t think you can do it,” Grugby choked out and you stepped back.   
“Where is she keeping her grandfather,” Diana asked and Grugby struggled against the lasso and tried not to speak with no luck. “She’s at Dante Hall. She won’t stop until she has her,” he choked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to lie, the inspiration is winding down but I have every intention of finishing this story guys. So just hang on.


	7. Chapter 7

Dante Hall was a lustrous and rich piece of Magician architecture and history. But it was abandoned for a reason. A four-story building with a Turkish flair in its arches and walkways, silver filigree stretching over stained glass windows and a conducting room that would make Versailles jealous, it had looked like paradise upon your first arrival. Enticed with rich food, sisterhood, and a roof over your head, it was everything a little girl could imagine and want.  
And then Mileva would sit you down between her knees and braid your hair while you helped yourself to whatever treat she had given you, hummingbirds flitting about in the garden, vibrant little birds. Maybe she really had loved you once upon a time...but what about now? She loved you enough to plunge a knife in your heart and siphon the typhoon of energy your death would make.   
“If...if I die, then you’ll need to take my bones,” You started and Bruce shook his head firmly. “It won’t come to that, Y/n,” he said. “She has to kill me in one go. But even if she doesn’t, my remains will have a charge regardless. So you’ll need to destroy them wholly. Down to ashes and spread those ashes across the corners of the earth. So promise me that if I do die and she somehow doesn’t get her hands on them, that you will ensure there is nothing left of me.” Clark stepped forward with some reluctance. “I understand. But that’s only if she gets to you,” he said. What you didn’t say was that destroying your remains meant spiritual death. There really would be nothing left of you. Your thoughts drifted to Grandpa and how he must still be alive, he had to be or you would have felt it. Stop Mileva, save grandpa. Those were your objectives.  
There was no right way to get ready to walk into battle and face your probable imminent death. “You alright kid?” Arthur asked as he came up behind you. He was a tall man and he exuded the faint smell of the ocean and energy of restless, powerful waves, similar to the way Diana’s presence was entirely commanding though if you were entirely human, you wouldn’t know why. “I know you didn’t ask for this shit,” he said and you snorted. “Does anybody ?” You replied. “Hell no,” he said with a laugh, his smile softening his face.   
“Before we go, I”m going to link our minds. It’s safer and you only send what you want, so don’t worry,” You said and looked at Diana, Clark, Bruce, Victor, Barry, and Arthur. “Is that alright with everyone?” You asked and they all agreed.  
The process to go to Dante Hall wasn’t as hard as you thought. You opened the bag of crystal chips and shook them onto the ground, then stood, planted your feet and crossed your arms over your chest. You folded your fingers until it was just your index and middle fingers and held them so tensely your joints started to lock up. Murmuring in Latin you began to very slowly uncross your arms and the crystal chips raised slowly into the air and formed a circle, magenta sparks starting up in the middle. They caught flame and spiraled across the entirety of the crystal circle and opened the doorway to Dante Hall. “It’s done. Are you ready?” You asked the heroes behind you. Of course, they were.  
Maine was a beautiful place and Dante Hall used to be as well. The manor sat on the edge of a cliff and the ocean roiled chaotically below while inky black clouds churned in the sky above, the manor now a nexus of unearthly corruption and the forces of nature weren’t liking it at all. You swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. “We move as a team,” Clark thought and you got the feeling it was to comfort you more than anything. “It’s like I can feel the electricity,” Barry thought in the link and there the strange telepathic wave of an agreement. “The land is trying to reject her,” Diana affirmed and you involuntarily shivered at the accuracy. A large cast iron gate surrounded the immediate property though it was for looks more than anything and with a tiny spell, you opened the gates and sensed no danger. The cobble pathway flanked by dead flowers lead up the large porch of pure marble and somehow still pristine double doors, which suddenly opened. “Y/n, I’m sorry it has to be this way,” said one of your old classmates, Kayleigh. She threw up her arms just as you did and so it began.  
Thunder screamed in the sky overhead as you pushed yourself up with a gust of wind and narrowly dodged Kayleigh’s attack, a quick glance below showing Diana delivering a brutal punch to Alicia while two other girls were shifting around using magic. You landed gracefully and whipped around and threw two spears of energy at Kayleigh, who missed the first one but was clipped by the second one. Barry was zipping past ice spikes that were cropping up uncomfortably fast. One of the girls had shed her human form and was grappling with Clark as a huge humanoid made of fire. Kayleigh rushed you with fists of searing energy and the two of you went flying into the side of Dante Hall and crashed entirely through the side of the house. Vases from Chinese dynasties went crashing to the floor and marble cracked from the sheer force of preternatural strength. “ YOU WERE MY SISTER!” You roared and sent her flying into the ceiling, angry, stinging tears spilling down your face. You rolled out of the way as she came down and flicked her wrist, forming a whip of blue flames. “We can’t be happy. We need to be strong,” she said lowly and you shook your head and summoned even more wind, sent debris flying at her. You sensed something big brewing by the ocean and Arthur cursed quite colorfully in your head. The fire whip wrapped around your middle and Kayleigh forced you deeper into the house. Then suddenly Dante Hall gave one long strange shudder and you realized something was seriously wrong. “Get inside, she’s trying to separate us!” you sent in the link. Cyborg burst in first and blasted Kayleigh away from you and just as he reached for you, there was a boom like no other, sounded like a bomb going off and Dante Hall began to fall into the sea.  
************************************

Mileva was deteriorating. Thin black veins crept from below her eyes and stood out on her neck. One her eyes had become cloudy with darkness. “Enough running child,” she whispered. “I’m not running anymore. And I’m not alone,” You proclaimed. She had called off her lackeys and now you faced her in the conducting room, of which the walls were gold and covered in curling vines and leaves and mirrors. In the center of the room was a marble dais and on it was a pool of swirling mist. A large statue of a female figure was restraining your grandpa who was tied with chains. She dissolved into a being of roiling shadow and flew at her with a haunting screech. You remained still and the look on your face was impossibly serene, took a deep breath. The light grew from your hands and the Mileva shadow hissed like a snake and struggled against you. The light began to turn indigo and it was here she began to realize what you were doing. “NOW!” You screamed in your head. Victor flew up and began to blast her, while Diana lassoed her from behind and roared with the effort of holding her back. Arthur went behind her and helped her from sliding away, which soon became your own problem and the mirrors on the walls shattered, the shards levitating a few seconds before Mileva sent them straight at you. Clark placed his hands firmly against your back and helped to keep you in place. Barry was a reddish blur as he raced to push all the glass pieces away. “TURN!” You ordered and started to pivot your body and thus, manipulating Mileva to go where you wanted her, right on top of the explosives Bruce was arranging. You shifted your hands into the form commonly known as ‘Devil horns’ or rock and roll hands began to push her. Blood freely streamed from your nose and the skin on your hands began to crack and bleed. You clenched your hands into fists and wrenched your arms apart as if ripping something in two. Bruce set off the explosives and Mileva lurched and screamed and was trapped by the Indigo light. “Go help him,” Clark ordered and you nodded and ran to help Grandpa, who was limp and bloodied. You glanced over your shoulder and saw that they were working to subdue her now that she had been trapped.   
“Solvite,” You whispered and he fell to the dais then looked up at you. “I’m so proud of you sweetheart,” he said as you helped him to his feet. “It’s almost over. It’ll be okay gramps,” You said. He nodded. “ I know sweetheart. It is almost over,” he whispered. There was soft ‘schick’ noise and there was a deep agony in your chest, in your breastbone. Before the darkness took you, you saw his hand holding the crystal blade lodged in your chest.

**Author's Note:**

> I worked really hard on this chapter and I hope you guys enjoy!


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